Should I remove my laptop battery when used as desktop?

I've worked at a few computer shops over the years and all the techs recommended removing the battery when a laptop will be used as a desktop for extended periods of time (week+). They say tha current running through the battery will wear it down slowly over time so if it's not needed, don't use it.
 
wildmanh said:
I've worked at a few computer shops over the years and all the techs recommended removing the battery when a laptop will be used as a desktop for extended periods of time (week+). They say tha current running through the battery will wear it down slowly over time so if it's not needed, don't use it.
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I've heard the same thing but I always keep my battery in. I haven't noticed any degradation of battery life in the 3 years since I've had it.
 
Ken C. said:
I've heard the same thing but I always keep my battery in. I haven't noticed any degradation of battery life in the 3 years since I've had it.
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Most people probably don't use their machines on battery enough to notice a different. If there is degridation from having the battery installed when in "desktop mode" I bet it would take a long time to notice. As for my old Dell, sometimes I took the battery out for long stretches of desktop use and sometimes I wouldn't.

Someone should buy 4+ of the same laptop and test this out for us. ;)
 
ukknifer said:
Hi
Will this extend the life of my battery? Or should I leave it in?


Thanks
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Okay, this is something I know about so bear with me.

Lithium-polymer laptop batteries have a charge cycle lifespan, but not a noticeable charge memory. In other words they are good for X number of charges before they will show a significant drop in capacity regardless of how far you discharge them before you recharge them again. Most laptop batteries are good for about 500 charge cycles. This means you will get about a year and a half from a battery that you charge every day. There are two ways to get the best life from your battery.

1. Take the battery out when you have your laptop plugged in. Only recharge the battery when it gets low (less then 50% charge, or so) or when you know you will have the laptop off the charger for a long period of time and need the full charge.

2. Change your power management settings to only recharge your battery when the charge drops below a certain point. I have my laptop at work plugged into the wall almost all the time and my power management settings were set to "keep battery fully charged". This means that the computer would automatically recharge the battery when the charge dropped below 98% of full. This means that the computer is recharging the battery every couple of days as the battery naturally loses charge as it sits without being used (called charge decay). This shortens the life of the battery, so I went into my power settings and set it to only recharge the battery when the charge drops below 60% - now the computer is only recharging the battery when I tell it to, or when I have had the computer off the charger for a significant period of time.

I hope this helps!
 
I have an hp pavilion that's a little over a year now. When new, the battery would last 2 hours+ when fully charged. It has been used 8 hours a day, 5 days a week as a desktop since I purchased it. For about the first year I tried leaving the battery out and only used the ac cord. When I finally needed to use the battery, I fully charged it and the battery wouldn't last 30 minutes. I have tried charging the battery overnight to ensure a full charge, but it is as if the battery "memory" is gone. Now I just leave it in because it isn't worth the hassle of shutting the computer completely off everday. I've tried using it unplugged recently and the charge doesn't last 10 minutes!
I used to have a toshiba satellite before my current laptop and I never worried about the battery and it stayed in all the time. The charge on that one always seemed to last about the same when unplugged (only about an hour, even though when IT was new it was suppose to last 2 hours) until one day it just stopped taking a charge at all.
When I get a new one, I'm just going to go battery in all the time again.
 
yardhook said:
When I finally needed to use the battery, I fully charged it and the battery wouldn't last 30 minutes.
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This sounds a little suspicious, but let me offer the following suggestion: Many new batteries must be "primed" to take a full charge. This is done by fully charging and discharging the battery a few times (like 3-4 times). This is typically true of battery types OTHER than Li-polymer batteries, but priming the battery may help you recover some lost charge.

VERY IMPORTANT FOR STORING BATTERIES, and something I forgot to mention in my last post is that a Li-polymer battery should NEVER be put into storage at a full charge. A fully-charged battery put into storage will suffer significant capacity loss, especially in warm temperature conditions. It is ideal to store Li-polymer batteries at a 40% charge level in a dry environment below 60 deg. Fahrenheit (but above freezing). This will ensure maximum available capacity when the battery is put back into service.

Cheers!
 
My laptop is about 6 months old and is kept plugged in with the battery in. I just checked and it's reading "97% available, plugged in, not charging". Last time I checked this it was reading 98%. I guess I am losing some capacity leaving the battery connected while running on AC power?
 
I have the battery in mine since I bought it back in 2008, and it was/is used as a desktop 99% of the time, always plugged in (acer5920g)
another one is a HP NC8000 from 2003, battery still working, used the same as above, though I've changed the hard drive which developed bad sectors, and upgraded the memory a little
 
NaturalMystic said:
My laptop is about 6 months old and is kept plugged in with the battery in. I just checked and it's reading "97% available, plugged in, not charging". Last time I checked this it was reading 98%. I guess I am losing some capacity leaving the battery connected while running on AC power?
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Yes, you will lose SOME charge over time naturally, even without using the battery. See my other posts above.
 
jacktrades_nbk said:
I have the battery in mine since I bought it back in 2008, and it was/is used as a desktop 99% of the time, always plugged in (acer5920g)
another one is a HP NC8000 from 2003, battery still working, used the same as above, though I've changed the hard drive which developed bad sectors, and upgraded the memory a little
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Battery life is all in the power management, although there are occasionally bad batteries. Good power management settings will ensure long battery life. Lenovo laptops have a really great battery management application to monitor and diagnose battery issues.

I am really surprised and suspicious to hear that that battery from 2003 is still holding a full charge. I would be willing to bet that an analysis would prove otherwise.
 
I always left the battery in my old Dell and it started to die after about 4 or 5 years. A battery is currently in my newer Dell that I'm typing on, plugged in. I did do some interchanging on battery/power supply where the machines were not exactly compatible. It worked at first. Weird. Then it cost me about ~$100 buck plus ~$25 for expedited shipping. Live and learn.
 
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sharpandsafe said:
I am really surprised and suspicious to hear that that battery from 2003 is still holding a full charge. I would be willing to bet that an analysis would prove otherwise.
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i didn't say it was holding a full charge, I said it was still working
never tested it myself, but I suspect it will still hold for about an hour or more if the power drops
 
Let's see... I've had my Vaio since 2007. It didn't hve great battery power then and my model of Vaio was never known for great batterly life anyway.

I almost always have it plugged in, set at high performance, and the batter lasts maybe 15 minutes when not plugged in.

I've never thought about running it without the battery, I wish I thought about that a couple years ago.
 
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